We Need a Republican Legislative Scorecard
The U.S. Senate is near to passing an agreement to reopen the government through the end of January. Once this deal passes the House, the real legislative budget negotiations will start.
The U.S. Senate is near to passing an agreement to reopen the government through the end of January. Once this deal passes the House, the real legislative budget negotiations will start. Then begins the key test for President Donald J. Trump and the Congressional Republicans.
The Democrats, propaganda media, and some squeamish Republicans will push for a one-sided collapse of the Trump agenda. They will want a narrowly focused negotiation which dramatically increases spending on COVID-19 insurance subsidies and rejects spending offsets (without solving the long-term problem). They will further reject important additional reforms and policies to boost the economy and shore up the debt.
This was the crisis moment for President Ronald Reagan in 1982 and 1983. He pleasantly refused to water down his reforms and stuck to his guns. It paid off, and America was better for it.
Later, I was involved with the 1990 budget conference between the Congress and the George H.W. Bush administration. Day after day, the Democrats wore down the Republican leadership until they caved. Their actions then split the GOP.
President Trump and the Republican Congressional leadership must enter these negotiations with several big facts in mind.
First, the presidency, the House, and the Senate are still in Republican hands. The Republicans should set the framework and terms of the negotiation. The Democrats will need enough concessions to attract some votes, especially in the Senate. But they must be forced to pay for the things they want by agreeing to what President Trump, the Republicans, and the American people want.
Second, on virtually every issue, the American people are much closer to Republicans than Democrats. According to America’s New Majority Project polling, by 72 percent to 13 percent, Americans do not want spending to increase. Furthermore, 78 percent favor work requirements for able bodied adults who receive welfare, and 62 percent of Americans do not want Medicaid paying for illegal immigrants. A Republican plan should refuse to increase the deficit and insist on these reforms with appropriate offsets. It should also find a reasonable solution for the COVID-19 insurance subsidies. This would have massive support against the Democrats’ deficit-funded blank check, no reform proposal. If Republicans have courage and discipline, they can easily win public support for their position.
Third, several other popular reforms and policies should be included in the budget bill. Passing things in the Senate is hard. The budget bill should have as many secondary reforms and improvements as possible. These may include codifying some of President Trump’s Executive Orders, so future Democrat administrations can’t simply repeal them with the stroke of a pen.
Fourth, affordability was clearly the biggest issue driving the Democratic Party’s success in the 2025 elections. This should be the 21st Century American Affordability Act by Senators Roger Marshall and John Hickenlooper. Reforms to reduce prices and diminish inflation must be included in the bill. The most expensive component of the American economy – health care – must also have substantial reforms to make it more affordable. A great example would be passing the bipartisan Patients Deserve Price Tags Act to increase health care cost transparency. Simply subsidizing out-of-control prices is not the same as reducing the cost of health care. Subsidizes should be targeted and rare. Further, price transparency in health care is the most powerful single reform that will create a true market and give people the information they need to make price, quality, and convenience decisions. Giving patients and doctors the ability to make informed quality and price decisions will do more to lead to a balanced budget than any other single reform.
Fifth, the most powerful characteristic of the Democrats’ 2025 campaigns was their message discipline. Democrats constant returned to affordability and the economy no matter what their opponents or the news media wanted to say. Winning the argument in the court of public opinion is more important than winning legislative arguments at the Capitol. Republicans at every level should devote at least three- to five-times the effort into communication which they will put into policy development.
A SIMPLE CHECKLIST
Does the final bill reduce the deficit?
Do the reasonable solutions for the COVID-19 insurance subsidies include reforms the American people overwhelmingly support?
Does the final bill strictly include more changes which most Americans want?
Will life clearly be more affordable with the passage of the 21st Century American Affordability Act?
Have Republicans won in the court of public opinion?
If Republicans can answer yes to all those questions, we will be on the right track.
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